44 Dane #2
I have the urge to butt in and say that it isn’t about deciding we’ll get married—simply a matter of when—but I keep my mouth shut, more eager to talk to Kas about marrying her mom now.
I think she’ll love it even more when I ask her “permission” after hearing all this and seeing how upset it made her.
I bet she’ll want to be a part of the proposal, too.
“You promise?” Kas asks Lindsey, voice unsure. It makes the anger in my chest worse, because Kas never sounds unsure about anything.
“I promise.”
She looks to me, and I smile reassuringly. “I promise, too.”
“Okay.” She nods, pulling her hands from Lindsey’s. Lindsey stands, and I tug her back into my side, ruffling Kas’s hair again.
She groans and pushes my hand away, but a smile is now on her face.
“I do have to ask you one thing now, though,” I direct at Kas, “if that’s alright?”
She puts her hands on her hips and stares seriously at me. “What is it?”
“Yeah, what is it?” Lindsey echoes, looking up to meet my gaze with still-glassy eyes.
“Is it okay if I come live with you both?”
Lindsey’s grip on my waist tightens. I know her answer, and I’m glad she doesn’t look mad that I asked Kas now instead of later tonight. But this felt like the perfect time, and by the warm upturn of her lips, I know she agrees.
“Don’t you live with us already anyway? I saw Mom folding your underwear the other night.” She scrunches up her nose.
Lindsey chokes out a laugh and looks around. Thankfully, there’s music playing, and nobody is paying attention to us.
“Kas! You can’t say things like that in public.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m just saying. You don’t keep underwear at someone’s house unless you live there.”
“The kid has a point,” I add.
Lindsey gently pinches my side, and I cock my eyebrow at her. She’ll pay for that later.
She flushes before turning her attention back to Kas. “That may be true in some cases, but he isn’t at our home full-time. If he moves in, it will be permanent.”
My heart squeezes at her promise, and I kiss the side of Lindsey’s head. Kas studies us, looking back and forth between me and her mom. Eventually, she zeros in on me with her hands on her hips, features stern. It makes me think of a cop about to interrogate someone.
“You like my mom, right?”
The conversation we had this past summer comes to mind. It’s a conversation I’ve never forgotten, because Kas is right—if you like someone, you should keep telling them until they’re sick of hearing it.
“I do, Kas. I like your mom. I like your mom a lot.”
“Do you more than like her?”
My gaze drops to Lindsey, her eyes shining with love. “Yeah, I more than like her.”
Lindsey blushes, because she already knew the answer to that. Because I don’t tell her I like her every day; I tell her I love her.
“And you like Logger Dane, Mom?”
“Yeah, honey. I more than like him.”
Kas continues to scrutinize us. She does that for a moment longer before she nods in a sharp motion. “Okay, then I’ll allow it. You can move in. But you’d better not make me eat your weird omelets.”
My chest shakes with laughter, and I pull Kas in by the shoulders for a half hug. “I won’t.”
Kas hugs me back before hugging her mom. She pulls back and puts her hands on her hips. “So can I throw a real axe now, Logger Dad?”
I’ll admit, the combination of her puppy-dog eyes with her calling me her own version of dad nearly gets me, but there’s no way I’m saying yes. “Like your mom said, not until you’re ten.”
She groans. “No fair!”
Lindsey sighs, and I kiss her head, enjoying the way we already feel like a family and have for a while now.
I’ve even started attending family dinners alongside them with Fox, Nathan, and Morgan at least once a month.
It’s taken me some getting used to, being around people all the time, but like I told Lindsey, I find my peace with her.
And wherever she and Kas are, I’m happy.
It’s also nice that I like Fox, Nathan, and Morgan.
On top of that, I’m learning to be more social with people in town. That, I don’t like as much, but I’m getting used to it.
“It may not be fair,” I tell Kas, “but your mom is right. We don’t want you to chop something off or poke your eye out.”
“Can’t I poke my eye out with a rubber axe, too, if it hits my face just right?”
Lindsey snorts as I purse my lips. Leave it to me to find a family that loves to talk back. Nathan is the same way. I can’t deny that I like it, though, especially when Lindsey does it when we’re alone.
“Maybe, but only if you’re being reckless. Which I know you won’t be, since you want to keep throwing axes and practicing for the tournament next month.”
She groans, but before she can say anything back, Moira runs over. “Kas!” The brown-haired girl stops in front of her and grabs her hand. “Max dared Levi to beat his record for how many marshmallows he can fit in his mouth! You have to come see.”
“But his mouth is bigger than Max’s; of course he’s gonna beat him.”
Lindsey and I look at each other and grin at her logic.
Levi’s been helping with the course lately since his leg is out of his cast and he’s healing well.
While the guy still annoys me most of the time, he’s good with kids, and I needed the extra set of hands since more kids have joined the weekend course.
One thing I’ve learned about him is he likes to take the kids’ dares, because it makes them laugh.
Last weekend, they dared him to hop like a frog for the whole two hours we were there, and he did.
His leg was sore afterward, but he said it was worth it because the kids enjoyed it.
So I’m not surprised that he’s doing this marshmallow dare now.
“So?” Moira giggles. “It’s gonna be hilarious!”
Kas smiles and nods. “Can I go, Mom?”
“Yeah, we’ll find you in a few minutes.”
Kas starts to run off with Moira, but before she gets too far, she lets go of Moira’s hand and runs back to us. I don’t know what she’s going to do, but then she wraps her arms around my waist and hugs me.
“Just so you know, Logger Dad. I like you, too.” She squeezes me one more time and then runs off.
“What about me?” Lindsey calls after her.
Kas stops and rolls her eyes playfully before coming back and hugging Lindsey. “I like you, too, Mom.”
Then she takes off with her friend toward where Levi is standing with a bunch of kids and some parents around him. I have no idea where he got marshmallows for this dare, but I’m not going to ask.
Lindsey clears her throat to get my attention. “Well, that was…”
“…unexpected?” I answer as I pull her into me so her arms wrap behind my neck and our bodies meld together. I don’t care that there are other parents around or that they’re probably watching us like hawks, since we’re still the hot gossip until something better comes along.
“Yeah. Are you okay?” she asks.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“That was a lot, but you handled it well.”
I take one of my hands and bring it up to finger the delicate O-ring of her choker.
“You’re mine, Lindsey. Kas…she may not be mine by blood, but she’s…
” I look over to where she’s smiling and laughing with her friends.
“She’s mine, too. You know I’ll do anything for the both of you. For our family.”
Lindsey swallows, her eyes watering again. “How the hell did I find a man like you, Logger Dane?”
“It’s Logger Dad now,” I tease, brushing my fingers up her neck until I’m wiping away a single tear. “But you watched my videos, thought I was hot, and drunk-emailed me.”
Lindsey laughs and swats my chest. I grab her hand and kiss her palm before pulling her in for a kiss. It’s short and sweet, nothing beyond PG, but a kid running by yells out “Ew!” making us pull away with a laugh.
“Later,” I murmur low in her ear. “After I remind you what happens when you misbehave.”
“Misbehave?”
“I think I remember someone pinching me.”
Mischief flashes in her eyes. “Is that a threat?”
I grip her chin and tut. “No, baby. It’s a promise.”